Mobility securement systems have existed to accommodate wheelchair-bound and other disabled passengers on buses for many years. Such systems are designed to secure the mobility device and its passenger during travel, where the bus may encounter sharp turns, may have to brake or accelerate quickly or may be involved in an accident. These events are expected during every day travel, and expose the mobility device and its passenger to forces that are often dangerous, both to them and other passengers near them.
While able-bodied passengers have other options to secure the position of their bodies relative to the vehicle, such as grabbing a nearby seat, stanchion, strap or grabrail, wheelchair-bound passengers and others traveling in mobility devices do not always have such an option. Passengers travelling in mobility devices must depend upon a securement system that holds the mobility device, and, in turn, the occupant, in place relative to the vehicle.
Mobility securement systems are now required throughout the U.S. to accommodate disabled passengers under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. The Code of Federal Regulations contains specific provisions as to the specifications and standards for such mobility device securement systems. See 36 C.F.R. 1192. For example, mobility securement systems on vehicles having a gross weight of 30,000 pounds or more must be able to restrain a force in a forward direction of up to 2,000 pounds per securement leg or clamping mechanism. Vehicles having a gross vehicle weight of less than 30,000 pounds must be able to restrain a force in a forward direction of up to 2,500 pounds per securement leg or clamping mechanism. Furthermore, the securement system must limit the movement of an occupied wheelchair or mobility device to no more than two inches in any direction under normal operating conditions.
To meet these stringent requirements, suppliers of mobility securement systems have typically used a securement system having either three or four attachment points. In the case of four attachment points, one attachment point is secured to a point near each corner of the wheelchair or other mobility device (e.g. scooter, power mobility device, or other). The area where the disabled passenger and mobility aid are positioned is often referred to as the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) area.
Thus, when the vehicle is in operation and makes a turn, accelerates or brakes, or is involved in an accident, there are at least one or two attachments that are located to act as a countervailing force to the inertia of the mobility device and its occupant. For example, when a vehicle turns left and a mobility device occupant feels a force towards the right, he/she is kept in place by one or more attachments that are connected to the mobility device on the left side. Mobility device tip overs are a problem. A vehicle wall or flip up seat assembly serves to prevent tip over to the wall side but tip overs toward the aisle remain a problem.
Systems with only three attachment points work in a somewhat similar manner; the three attachment points are positioned in such a way that there is an attachment connected to the mobility device to apply a countervailing force against any direction the vehicle may pull the passenger and/or the mobility device. In addition, some mobility securement systems with three attachment points also include a bumper or a barrier to limit motion of the mobility device. The bumper or barrier may be fixed or moveable. Barriers are typically placed behind the mobility device, while bumpers are typically placed alongside it by the window-side of the vehicle. In either case, these bumpers and barriers act to provide another surface against which the mobility device may abut, to brace it against the forces experienced during movement of the vehicle. Tip over problems can exist with some three point attachment systems. More specifically, if the mobility device is not positioned flush with the bumper assembly, there may not be sufficient support to prevent a tip over toward the aisle side. Ideally, three point systems require the disabled passenger or an aide to correctly position the mobility device directly against or very close to the bumper assembly. If the mobility device is placed close to the bumper, the bumper may come in contact with the mobility aid and thus assist in tip over prevention. If the mobility aid does not contact the bumper and one of the three attachments is tensioned, the mobility device effectively becomes secured primarily through the two opposing (front wall side and rear aisle side) attachment belts. Three point systems thus require the operator to correctly position the disabled occupant and mobility aid within the ADA area. This takes additional time and is often not done, or not done properly.
In systems with attachment points, an operator (often the bus driver), must attend to the mobility device to ensure it is secured before travel by attaching each of the three or four attachment points to the mobility device. When the mobility device passenger wishes to get off the bus, the driver must again attend to the passenger to disconnect each of the three or four attachment points. Each of these actions takes precious time away from the driver, and from meeting the often difficult schedule of the bus route.
Furthermore, for each attachment point an operator must attach, the operator encroaches into the disabled passenger's personal space, often making the disabled passenger feel uncomfortable. This is particularly true with the wall side, rear attachment point that is least accessible to the operator.
While some mobility securement systems without any attachment points are known, they have often met with less effectiveness, less acceptance and, accordingly, less commercial success. Such systems have moveable bumpers or barriers on opposite sides from each other, which place a compressive force upon the wheelchair or mobility device. Often, such systems are expensive and intrusive, as part of the system must take up substantial space in or near the aisle of the vehicle.
Often, mobility securement systems, or portions thereof, are designed to be stored underneath a seat, or within a barrier of a vehicle when not in use, which allows the area to be used for seating by other passengers.
Finally, it is important to accommodate different types of mobility devices. In addition of various types and sizes of wheelchairs, there are also other mobility devices such as scooters, power mobility devices, etc, each of which may have 3, 4, 5 or more wheels. Many of these devices have different shapes and configurations. Mobility securement systems that are designed to have four attachment points, may not work to secure a three-wheeled mobility scooter that has one center tiller, rather than the two front wheels of a mobility device.
It would be desirable to provide a mobility securement system, which takes significantly less time and effort to secure a wheelchair or many different types of mobility devices and its passenger, which is (i) compliant with all relevant ADA regulations, (ii) flexible with regard to placement of the mobility device in the ADA area, (iii) capable of being quickly and easily stored, or converted for able-bodied passenger seating, when not in use, (iv) cost effective, and (v) which minimizes the amount of an operator's time, effort, and intrusion into the disabled passenger's personal space.
One of the objects of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art through a securement system that accommodates the “imperfect” positioning of the mobility device while minimizing the time and effort for restraining and releasing that mobility device and its occupant.